1. Stop using Chris Tomlin’s key signature!
Most male recording artists — regardless of how good a worship leader they are — record their albums in a register that the average human cannot aspire to sing in. Female artists are often altos and, thus, tend to write in more reasonable keys (though occasionally they fall too low)…2. ASK them to participate.
What a novel idea, huh?! Sounds overly simple but, if you commit to making strategic asks, I think you’ll be surprised at how well your church responds…3. Play songs they know and give them time to really learn a song.
What good is it to have the hottest song repertoire around if you lose your church in the process? Choose your songs purposefully and teach them thoroughly…4. Be willing to throw out a song that’s just not serving to engage your church.
It may be a top 10 song on all the worship charts. Maybe you even heard it at a big conference where it was everyone’s favorite! Perhaps your whole band even loves to play it. Even so, if you try teaching it to your church and they never really buy into it, you may have to cut it loose…